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A sweeping school cellphone crackdown and revamped language tightening controls on youth social media use cleared the House Education Committee Wednesday after weeks of debate on both measures.
In back-to-back votes, the committee unanimously advanced Senate Bill 78, which would require students’ phones and other wireless devices to be powered off and locked away for the full school day.
Then, there was a party-line vote to move Senate Bill 199, a wide-ranging education bill that — as of Wednesday — revives and restructures proposed restrictions on minors’ social media accounts, with a heavier emphasis on parental access and oversight.
Earlier versions of Senate Bill 199 included youth social media language that was later stripped out as lawmakers raised constitutional and enforcement concerns.
But the issue has surged back to the forefront in recent weeks, following the death of a Fishers teenager and renewed pressure from Gov. Mike Braun, legislative leaders and child safety advocates to advance some form of regulation this session.
Both measures now head to the full House, where further amendments are possible
A clearer, tighter cellphone ban
Authored by Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, Senate Bill 78 would require schools to adopt uniform policies prohibiting student use of cellphones and other wireless communication devices for the entire school day, expanding Indiana’s current limits, which generally apply only during instructional time.
The goal, Raatz has said, is to eliminate inconsistencies that allow phones during lunch, passing periods or at individual teachers’ discretion.
The bill passed the committee 12-0.
Lawmakers and school officials testified in recent weeks that those gaps have left teachers policing phone use period by period.
Meanwhile, students continue to text, scroll social media and use smartwatches, wireless earbuds and messaging apps embedded in school-issued devices — some more discreetly than others — amounting to an average of more than 40 minutes of lost learning time each day.
The bill previously advanced from the Senate in a narrow, 28-19 vote. Concerns from both Democrats and Republicans centered around student safety, as well as possible cost and enforcement burdens on schools.
Additional testimony from educators and parents last week continued to center on storage logistics and enforcement.
The House committee responded Wednesday with four bill amendments aimed at tightening definitions and giving schools clearer guidance.
“This is really running in tandem with a lot of other things we’ve discussed this year regarding how our students spend their time,” Rep. Jake Teshka, R-North Vernon.
He emphasized that lawmakers were trying to land on a workable compromise.
“This is a really critical piece to move forward, and we want to make sure schools can actually implement it,” Teshka said.
The latest draft now explicitly allows schools to use safety grant dollars to purchase storage pouches for phones and similar devices — while carving out an exception for audio-only electronic note-taking devices that record and transcribe lectures but cannot access the internet or social media.
“They’re certainly not a distraction,” Teshka said of the note-taking devices. “Again, this is not a distracting device, not something they can access the internet, social media, those sorts of things.”
Another amendment requires the Indiana Department of Education to publish guidance on how schools can use existing lockers and other resources to store phones. District leaders previously said they were unclear about what would comply with the bill.
The committee also adopted bill language explicitly requiring that wireless devices be stored away, powered off and inaccessible to a student throughout the school day, although students can still bring them to school.
“Powered off is key,” Teshka said. “(Devices need to be) stored away and inaccessible to the student. I think that really gets at where we’re aiming to be without being super prescriptive on the manner in which those devices are stored.”
A final amendment allows students — where permitted by a school — to bring their own laptops or tablets for instructional use. But the bill explicitly excludes cellphones, gaming devices and smartwatches and requires those devices to be subject to school-managed network filters that block social media, gaming and other non-instructional content.
A proposal from Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, would have allowed schools to charge parents $25 to $100 per year to store student phones but ultimately failed in a 4-8 vote.
Delaney argued the fee could discourage students from bringing phones altogether.
“If, say, the charge was 100 bucks — Johnny, you’re not taking your phone to school,” he said. “We don’t want the distraction or the time or the energy or the staffing.”
Committee chairman Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, and other Republicans raised concerns, however, about equity, administrative complexity and how such fees could be imposed within existing limits on what schools can charge families.
Teshka said he was also uncomfortable setting a minimum fee in statute. Doing so, he warned, would effectively mandate the practice rather than leave it to local districts..
“I think we should, if we were going to do something along these lines, maybe a ‘not more than’ amount would be good,” Teshka said. “But I think setting a floor … I have some concern with the rigidity.”
Social media restrictions revived — with revisions
The committee also advanced Senate Bill 199 — a sprawling education package that’s become the House’s vehicle for youth social media regulation after state senators backed away earlier this session from a similar ban.
The bill cleared the committee 7-4, with Democrats opposed.
A key amendment approved by the committee varies slightly from other proposed social media language discussed last week.
Under the amended bill, social media companies would be required to provide parents or guardians with access to a minor’s account upon request, while also meeting new standards around account controls, data use and transparency.
Representatives also delayed the effective date of the social media provisions from this summer to Jan. 1, 2027, giving state agencies and platforms additional time to prepare for implementation.
Behning said the changes were the product of continued negotiations and cautioned that lawmakers could still make additional adjustments when the bill reaches the House floor next week.
“We would like to protect as many children as possible,” Behning said. “I think the question… has got to be, at what point in time do First Amendment rights kick in? At what point in time do parents have the ability to… override the student’s First Amendment rights?”
The social media provisions have been a flashpoint for weeks, drawing emotional testimony from parents who say platforms are harming their children — and warnings from civil liberties advocates about privacy and First Amendment concerns.
Democrats offered multiple amendments seeking to roll back or soften other parts of the bill. All failed in party-line votes.
One proposal from DeLaney would have raised the protected age threshold to age 16, but he ultimately withdrew the amendment, saying he plans to revisit the issue on the House floor instead.
“The current bill for the average student would protect freshmen and younger,” he said. “I’m saying sophomore and younger… I just think this is a better policy because it’s a little broader, and because the problem doesn’t stop at the end of the freshman year.”
Beyond social media, Democrats also objected to provisions allowing the state to further restrict or eliminate certain college degree programs deemed “low-earning.”
Under the bill, Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education would be directed to review programs whose graduates earn median wages below set thresholds — ranging roughly from $24,000 to $35,000, depending on the credential — and take action following additional analysis and public reporting.
CHE has already sought to cut or merge hundreds of low-enrollment or duplicative degree programs statewide.
Supporters said in committee testimony on Monday the move would promote accountability, but critics warned it could limit access to valuable public-service and liberal arts careers.
Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said the language especially risks undermining higher education pathways that serve first-generation and low-income students.
“There’s a party that exists that says they want small government, that we get out everybody’s business. We don’t know what that person who wants to go into a career… brings to the table,” he said. “So, why are we getting into everybody’s choice?”
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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